Aru Shah: Jumanji AU

Chapter 8

Boo went over the plan one more time before apprehensively looking up the sky for the vultures. He leaned and so the others, "From now on, talk in hushed tones. Thankfully for us, they can't hear well. We can whisper and they won't know our plan."

Mini nodded before asking, "This is all and well, but once we get to the shed, what do we do? We still need to find the jewel thing and return it, but we have no clue where it is."

Boo smirked, "Do you mean, this jewel?" He pulled a sparkling purple diamond out of his back pocket and made sure it was out of the vultures' line of vision. Everyone gasped and looked at him, "Kara gave this to me the moment I entered. I was the first player so I got the jewel in order to escape, and back then, Kara used a chariot to get around, not a...car. I guess, games 'get with the times' as well."

Rudy stared at the jewel, his "Humanoid" eyes never leaving sight of it, "It's so shiny!! Gimme!" He stretched out his hands and started trying to grab in like a five year wanting cake.

Boo brought it to his chest and secured it in his arms, " What's wrong with this guy! Rudy, I think his name was, wasn't like this before!!" he said, running in circles around them, Rudy at his heels.

Rudy stopped and shrugged, "I've always been like this. Shiny stuff is what I do. Now gimme!"

"Uh.. No. I'm going to let my trusty eagle keep this for me, okay?" Boo asked. Suddenly, a large eagle with a blue clip on his head, an intricate pattern etched into feathers - an indication that the bird was loyal to Boo.

Rudy crossed his arms and huffed, "I. Hate. Birds."

"Seriously, What is with you throwing your weaknesses on the floor! For instance, Dude, Birds, what's next, Germs?" Boo complained, watching his eagle take flight.

Rudy held up a finger, "Birds are NOT my weakness. They're just ugly. And mean," he stuck his tongue out at the eagle, who promptly pecked Rudy's head.

Boo stayed quiet, not wanting to indicate that birds were important to him. Instead he changed the subject to something completely different. At least he tried to before he was interrupted by Mini, "For your information, Germs are incredibly disgusting and can kill you too! One of the reasons why an elbow bump is always the way to go, isn't that right Aru?" Mini finished, holding her elbow out. Aru sighed and elbow bumped her back.

Rudy just rolled his eyes, slightly smiling at Mini being Mini, "Now can we please get going?"

Boo's eyes darted from Rudy to Mini as he smirked, his thoughts kept to himself. Aru thought that he wanted to spit things out, so she just elbowed him in the ribs, making the thoughts leave his head and Boo double over.

He glared at her, "Goodness, I wasn't going to say anything Aru!" Soon he realized his mistake and started to randomly talk about feathers.

Aru glared back at him, "Do I look like I care Boo? Don't say anything about what you just witnessed."

Boo smirked, "Yes, you do care, why else would you elbow me! Anyway, about the plan, I'll take you there first and then-"

Aru groaned, "We went over it a bunch of times already. The bird will meet us there with the jewel blah blah bah."

Bo gave her a deadpanned look, " Do I look like I care Aru?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Touche, Bird Brain, touche."

Aiden got annoyed, "Let's go. I have a feeling that if we stall anymore, we'll be stuck here for another 288 years."

Everyone turned to the trail, ready to walk to the shed when the Sleeper himself blocked the door, a ugly sneer on his face.

"Hello. I believe you have something that belongs to me!" He said, lunging for Boo with a knife towards his stomach, who leaped out of the way, fear glazed in his eyes.

Aru walked up to him and rolled her eyes, "Hands off buddy. Didn't your parents ever teach you about personal space?" She pushed him out the door, making the Sleeper bump into the railing, "And seriously, everyone's getting a kick out of being the villain. Then the 'Sleeper'. That guy, always sending people after us like he's some gangster. Mini could pull off being a goon better than him."

The Sleeper snarled, "I am the Sleeper."

Aru rolled her eyes before deadpanning, "And I'm Kanye West."

With that, she pushed him off the railing, and watched him tumble down with bored eyes. She dusted her hands off before looking at the team. Everyone stared at her, their eyes wide at what she just did. She smirked.

"What? Never seen a girl push someone off a railing before?" Aru scoffed, "Amateurs. Let's roll people!"

Aru snapped her fingers and started leading the way before Boo passed her and decided to take the lead to the shed. Aru decided to sneak to the back of the group, where Aiden was, to explain what had happened with Boo the previous night, and what he had told her.

Aiden was playing with a tooth necklace that his character was wearing. Aru tapped his shoulder, "Whatcha thinkin' 'bout Zac Efron?"

Aiden rolled his eyes, "Nothing that concerns you, your Highness. What're you doing in the back anyway?"

Aru shrugged, "I figured you wanted to know what Boo said last night."

Aiden nodded and Aru gave him the entire story of what happened, leaving none of the details out. Aiden took it all in and was surprised at how...nice Aru could be when she knew she did something wrong and apollo-gised for it.

( '･･)ﾉ TIME SKIP (._.')

Boo was still in the front, guiding them the way he went to get the tool shed. He subconsciously rubbed his stomach after the knife scene replayed in his head over and over again. He kept looking forward and was actively attentive to their questions and random pieces of information that Mini spouted on how you could die, however his mind was somewhere else.

"What if I don't make it out?

Will I be left behind, here to rot for thousands of years?

What is the world like now?

Will the world ever be as colorful as it once was?

What if I'm just being used-"

His thoughts were interrupted by Aiden running forward.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Boo asked, looking behind him.

Aiden looked at him for a second before bending down at a plant. Aiden curiously picked up a small fruit, " T-They're blueberries! Finally, something that reminds me of home." he took a bite and rashes appeared on his face. His eyes widened in panic, but he couldn't stop eating them. Nikita gave the details of the plants - a bit too late though.

"That's not blueberries Aiden! That's a poisonous plant called Nightshade. It puts your brain on overdrive and causes you to become delirious! You might experience pain and delirium. Just don't eat too- HOW DID I KNOW THAT??" Nikita droned and then asked surprised.

Dust flew everywhere. Aiden Acharya had just been "defeated" by an evil Jumanji Blueberry.

Aru stared at where Aiden stood, and laughed nervously, "At least that wasn't his last life right?"

When she was met with silence, she asked again, more seriously this time, "Right?"

" I think he will have two lives left. " Sheela said quietly, panicked about how her vision had become true.

Right when Sheela said that, the chimes were heard again. Aiden fell to the ground and groaned before accepting Aru's arm up. He stretched his arm out and sighed in relief when he realized that he still had two lives left. Everyone crowded around him and stretched their arms out as well. Rudy had one life left. Sheela had three lives. Nikita had two. Brynne still had three. Boo had one. Mini had three. Aru had three left.

Everyone sighed when they realized that they would be okay for the time being. No one asked how Boo lost two lives, not wanting to talk about the topic. They kept walking and finally...the tool shed came into view, and the gang hid behind a few bushes to scout the place out without being seen.

 It was time to get the plan started.